Panicked US passenger forces landing

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A woman panicking from claustrophobia caused a Washington-bound
flight from London to make an emergency landing in Boston on
Wednesday, sparking a major security alert.

Police and other officials said there was no apparent terrorist
threat, but the incident set off a major security response a week
after British authorities said they had foiled a plot to blow up
planes from London to the United States.

United Airlines flight 923, carrying 182 passengers and 12 crew,
was escorted by fighter jets to Boston after crew members
confronted a 59-year-old US woman who became unruly due to an
apparent panic attack, officials said.

Nenette Day, a spokeswoman with the FBI in Boston, said the woman
became disruptive on the flight and had to be forcibly
restrained.

The woman was carrying hand cream and matches but was not a
terrorist threat, said Christopher White, a Transportation Security
Administration spokesman. Those items are not banned on commercial
flights, he said.

"There are no known links to terrorism regarding this event at
this time," said White.

One media report carried on CNN and major TV networks, and later
denied, said the woman had Vaseline, a screwdriver, matches and a
note on the Islamic militant group al Qaeda.

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The FBI's Day said a search of her belongings produced no
dangerous materials and no note from al Qaeda.

"Her carry-on bags subsequently were searched and matches were
found in the bag as well as a gelatin-like substance but those
items were not deemed to have any terrorist connection or or pose a
threat to the aircraft," Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a news
conference.

Screams, handcuffs

Passengers on the plane said the woman, dressed in a grey
hooded sweatshirt, was screaming on several trips to the
toilet.

"They had her thrown to the ground and then handcuffed her and
she was still saying loud things. Then they put her in the last row
of seats between the two men," Joan Bartko, 59, said.

Passengers became aware that something was wrong as flight
attendants raced to the front of the plane carrying the woman's
large handbag, fighter jets appeared outside their windows and the
plane lost altitude and changed course.

"I noticed the F-15s next to the plane and said 'Oh my God',"
said Antony Nash, 31. "It was a harrowing two hours."

The US Attorney's office in Boston said the woman will be
arraigned on Thursday on unspecified criminal charges.

Airline passengers have faced heightened security since last
week, when British police arrested nearly two dozen suspects in the
alleged plot to carry out multiple suicide bombings on
transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives.

Television broadcasts showed Boston airport rescue workers
surrounding the plane while dogs sniffed for explosives in luggage
laid out in lines on the ground. At least half a dozen police vans
and cars were on the tarmac.